Magnetic cyclostratigraphy of South Altantic sediments.

Abstract

Two closely related main objectives delineate the framework ofthis thesis: 1) Establishing representative age models for sediment series from the South Atlantic Ocean based on high-resolution magnetic measurements. 2) Extracting paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic information from the climatically controlled magnetic signals by means of specially adapted statistical analyses. The results achieved substantiate magnetic cyclostratigraphy as a potentially very powerful tool for detailed, accurate age modeling. Proceeding from magnetostratigraphic or oxygen isotope dating high-resolution chronostratigraphies were established by orbital tuning of susceptibility records. In the subtropical and western tropical South Atlantic Ocean as in many other open ocean environments these signals reflect the varying ratio of climatically modulated terrigenous and biogenic sediment accumulation.